The present disclosure relates to a wearable robot, and more particularly, to a wearable robot able to maintain a balanced state during operations thereof.
In recent years, wearable robots have been applied to a converter construction process for the construction of a converter in a steel mill. Although refractories may be placed on the bottom and intermediate portions of a converter using light construction equipment, all refractories must be laid by manpower alone, as a piece of light construction equipment cannot be utilized at the cone of the converter. The weight of individual refractories is about 25 to 50 kg, and a construction worker may suffer from a musculoskeletal disease or have an accident over the course of carrying several thousand bricks. In order to address such problems, a wearable robot may be applied to a building process, and handling units may be installed at ends of both arms of the wearable robot to grip and move the refractories.
FIG. 1 is a view schematically illustrating a wearable robot.
Referring to FIG. 1, the wearable robot 1 includes a body 2 which may be worn by a user p, and a plurality of joints provided to be moved in response to movements of the user p. Handling units 4 for handling and positioning a refractory m using pneumatic pressure are provided at ends of both arms 3 of the wearable robot 1. With this construction, the refractory m having a relatively heavy weight is absorbed by the handling units 4 and is moved to an installation site to be installed.
However, when such a wearable robot is used, the degree of freedom of joint movement thereof may not as high as that of a human, and there may be limits in terms of lifting, moving, and lowering a refractory. In particular, when a refractory having a relatively heavy weight is carried, the upper limbs are moved as the lower limbs are moved, and thus, the wearable robot maybe frequently unbalanced and may topple over. Further, when the waist or hip is fixed, the upper limbs connected to the lower limbs may be significantly moved if the lower limbs are moved.
FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are diagrams schematically illustrating operational states of a wearable robot. FIG. 2A illustrates a general upright state of the wearable robot, FIG. 2B illustrates an inclined state, and FIG. 2C illustrates a walking state. If the lower limbs are inclined laterally as in FIG. 2B, center of gravity of the wearable robot is moved in a lateral direction and the wearable robot may be unbalanced. When the wearable robot is in a walking state in FIG. 3C, the center of gravity of the wearable robot is moved and the wearable robot may be unbalanced as a whole through being inclined toward a leg opposite to the lifted leg.
As described above, if the leftward and rightward movements of the lower limbs are intentionally limited to prevent the upper limbs of the wearable robot from moving excessively, it is difficult for the center of gravity to be naturally moved to allow for a walking operation to occur.